Complaint to the player God, drop the games
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करिसी लाघवें । तूं हें खेळसी आघवें ॥1॥
अहंकार आड । आह्मां जगासी हा नाड ॥ध्रु.॥
येथें भुतें यावें । दावूं लपों ही जाणावें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे हो श्रीपती । आतां चाळवाल किती॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You play all these games with Your wondrous skill. Ego stands in the way, leading us and the whole world astray. Spirits must come here, and You must know how to both reveal and conceal Yourself. Says Tuka, O Lord, how long will You keep toying with us?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You do it by sleight of hand. You play this whole thing as a game. Ego stands in the way. It trips up us and the whole world. Beings have to come here. You know how to show yourself and how to hide. Tuka says: O Shripati, how much longer will you keep toying with us?
What it means
Tukaram half complains, half pleads with a God who runs the world like a conjuror. The whole show is divine play, but the trap inside it is ego, which trips up the poet and everyone else. Souls are made to come and take birth here, while the Lord keeps the trick of revealing and concealing himself at will. The poem ends with affectionate impatience: O Shripati, how long do you mean to go on playing with us before you let us see you plainly?
The Nature of God
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